Hillary Exter
Director of Student Organizations and Publicity
Public Interest Resource Center
Fordham Law School

 

The impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita has been a defining moment for law students at Fordham Law School and nationally.  It opened eyes to enormous institutional failure, systemic problems, poverty, inequality, and racism.  Facing this reality, an extraordinary group of law students mobilized in the aftermath of the storms and formed the Student Hurricane Network to provide critically needed legal assistance and advocacy on behalf of people and communities in the Gulf Coast.

"On August 29, 2005, I had sat, transfixed, in front of the television as the news networks reported the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. The shock that overcame me in those initial moments quickly gave way to the gut reaction that I had to do…something," said Melissa Rasmussen, '08, who began Fordham Law only a week before the levees broke. "I went down to New Orleans because I felt like it was something terrible happening here in America and that I could help," said Jeremy Pfetsch, '07, who joined three of Fordham's delegations.  Janos Marton, '09, "made the decision to attend law school after spending a year doing Katrina relief, seeing the legal obstacles people faced during the recovery," and has been a part of the last two Fordham delegations.  

"Right after the storm a group of Fordham students along with students from other schools in the country got together and came up with the idea of sending law student volunteers to the Gulf Coast to not only bear witness but also just help out in any way that they could," said Anamaria Segura, '07, who has been a part of each winter and spring delegation.

Fordham's students, faculty and administrators have worked with many legal and grassroots organizations, including the Advancement Project and the Peoples' Hurricane Relief to stop the bulldozing of lower Ninth Ward homes without notice to the homeowners and outreach to immigrant workers doing clean-up and rebuilding in often illegal working conditions, with the Orleans Parish Public Defenders and the Louisiana Capital Assistance Center on criminal justice issues,  with NAACP-LDF on a voter protection project, with New Orleans Legal Assistance Corporation to assist homeowners unable to access government benefits to rebuild, with the Gert Town Revival Initiative on neighborhood rebuilding plans, and with the People's Organizing Committee on a housing conditions documentation project.  

Our experiences are transformative. "What leads you to go down is different than what you take away from it.  You're drawn in by the magnitude of the tragedy and the overwhelming significance of what has happened," explained Jeremy. "But on the ground it becomes about the people, the individuals you have the chance help. There is still much to do."

The passion, commitment, dedication and love that students at Fordham and nationwide have put into the work has been truly inspiring.  "Those newest to our profession are really setting the standard for the rest of us," said Ian Weinstein, Professor and Director of Clinical Education.